About the research:
A significant contribution to the field of structural biology and protein folding, notably the discovery that mutant p53 undergoes prion-type amyloid aggregation in cancer, a mechanism analogous to that of α-synuclein in Parkinson’s disease and prion diseases, now being explored as a therapeutic target.
Awards and honors:
🏆 Order of Merit Governor Estácio de Sá (Commander), Government of the State of Rio de Janeiro
🏆 SBBq Award – Leopoldo de Meis 2025, Brazilian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology – SBBq
🏆 National Library Medal – Order of Merit of the Book, National Library Foundation
🏆 Faz Diferença Science and Health Award 2012, O Globo Newspaper
🏆 Grand Cross Class of the National Order of Scientific Merit, Presidency of the Republic
Selected publications:
Silva JL, De Moura Gallo CV, Costa DC, Rangel LP. Prion-like aggregation of mutant p53 in cancer. Trends Biochem Sci. 2014 Jun;39(6):260-7. Epub 2014 Apr 26. PMID: 24775734. doi: 10.1016/j.tibs.2014.04.001
de Oliveira GA, Silva JL. A hypothesis to reconcile the physical and chemical unfolding of proteins. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 May 26;112(21):E2775-84. Epub 2015 May 11. PMID: 25964355; PMCID: PMC4450381. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1500352112
Petronilho EC, Pedrote MM, Marques MA, Passos YM, Mota MF, Jakobus B, de Sousa GDS, Pereira da Costa F, Felix AL, Ferretti GDS, Almeida FP, Cordeiro Y, Vieira TCRG, de Oliveira GAP, Silva JL. Phase separation of p53 precedes aggregation and is affected by oncogenic mutations and ligands. Chem Sci. 2021 Apr 26;12(21):7334-7349. PMID: 34163823; PMCID: PMC8171334. doi: 10.1039/d1sc01739j
Silva JL, Foguel D, Ferreira VF, Vieira TCRG, Marques MA, Ferretti GDS, Outeiro TF, Cordeiro Y, de Oliveira GAP. Targeting Biomolecular Condensation and Protein Aggregation against Cancer. Chem Rev. 2023 Jul 26;123(14):9094-9138. Epub 2023 Jun 28. PMID: 37379327. doi: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.3c00131.
Petronilho EC, de Andrade GC, de Sousa GDS, Almeida FP, Mota MF, Gomes AVDS, Pinheiro CHS, da Silva MC, Arruda HRS, Marques MA, Vieira TCRG, de Oliveira GAP, Silva JL. Oncogenic p53 triggers amyloid aggregation of p63 and p73 liquid droplets. Commun Chem. 2024 Sep 16;7(1):207. PMID: 39284933; PMCID: PMC11405828. doi: 10.1038/s42004-024-01289-x
